Apartment Drama

You want to have some noisy neighbors; kick their asses and go to jail*. I haven't found a quiet one yet! (*been there/done that/got the slides)

Bass (low bass) in an adjacent apartment can sound HUGE compared to your room. And, in your room, you could certainly have conversations while your bass was pumping out without noticing it. This happened to me once when I bought my first Velodyne back in 1996. I could barely hear the bass (it was probably balanced in room) but my neighbor said it was extremely boomy, and as others have said recommended I elevate it off the floor. Ever since then I have done my best to NOT live in an apartment.

I have lived in apartment buildings all my life as well (until my own home, now) and, gotta say, my apartment was MY CASTLE and I have the absolute right to enjoy my property - provided I do not disturb others. Apartment bldgs don't have house rules (as do condos or coops - house rules is a legal document and part of a contact, not it a sheet you type up and past in the hall for everyone to obey) so what applies is your city's (or town) ordinance against noise, usually of which is it 11 PM. Observe it and the common law cant touch you.

so, if you don 't mind your neighbors not liking you, if you don't mind investing in a new steel door with incredible deadbolts (because they will try breaking in the door during Sabbaths "Fairies Wear Boots", if you don't mind petitions being circulated about evicting you - you can enjoy your music as loud as you wish without breaking the law (you MUST be CERTAIN of what the law is, and be certain that the cops who come to your home know what it is - and yes, an apartment is STILL YOUR HOME!). Then, you need to be aware of any particulars (I would not want to be sued by the parents of a handicapped 3 year old). So, once you have all of this, you are not penalized in AMERICA for liking music, having big amps (and speakers) but not buying a house.

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness does not require ownership of real property.

where is my manifesto?

Agree with Elizabeth. I used headphones almost exclusively when I was in an apartment complex. Had speakers, but used them very rarely. Other than headphones, her method of Maggies/panels (no sub, obviously) on the terrace level/slab part of the building in the corner, combined with very moderate listening levels, is THE way to go for an audiophile stuck in a complex.

The 1st downside to this is higher risk of theft (ground-floor windows, and especially if facing the woods) -- I experienced this myself. The 2nd downside is high exposure to noise from your upstairs neighbor. At the time my upstairs neighbors were ALL very reasonable/quiet (this is a very lucky occurrence, and not to be expected), so the terrace-level apt I had was pretty decent living until I got broken into.

After the break-in I moved to the top-floor (4th), which was just awful. Modern complexes are built so cheap, that by the time you get to the top floor you feel like you're in a treehouse; no rigidity anywhere. Even if you try to run speakers, they will sound like crap. You may have to deal with unreasonable people below you (e.g. calling police over the sound of WALKING). And you're still not immune to gobs of awful sound coming from below (e.g. high idiots with a subwoofer).

These are the compromises of apt complex living. They are not designed for most audiophiles' needs.